Author Tony DiTerlizzi, who created The Spiderwick Chronicles with Holly Black, spoke during a presentation for Newtown Middle School students on Friday, May 17.

Authors and illustrators arrived in the school district on Friday, May 17, a day before a scheduled “Turning the Page, New Stories for Newtown” presentation for all Newtown residents at Newtown Middle School.

The Saturday, May 18, community event will run from 10:30 am until 4 pm, with author presentations held in the NMS auditorium. A meet and greet will also be held in the school’s cafeteria. While tickets for the individual panel presentations are free, they are limited. The free tickets for the panel presentations are being made available at the C.H. Booth Library’s Children’s Department for Newtown residents only. C.H. Booth Library’s Children’s Librarian Alana Bennison also said this week that tickets will be available at the door on Saturday, as space allows.

The “Turning the Page, New Stories for Newtown” was the brainchild of author Tony DiTerlizzi, who created The Spiderwick Chronicles with Holly Black. When Ms Bennison was first contacted about the possible event, she said Mr DiTerlizzi was interested in bringing authors to Newtown for Children’s Book Week.

Robin Adelson, the executive director for the Children’s Book Council, Inc, spoke to Ms Bennison in January to arrange both the Friday, May 17, visits and the Saturday, May 18, event.

The meet and greet in the NMS cafeteria will be open without tickets, but the panel discussions will not be open to people without tickets. The meet and greet will include a rotation of authors, who will be available to sign books, and drawing lessons with visiting illustrators Paul Meisel, Bruce Degen, and Jennifer Thermes.

“It’s a rare gift. It’s a rare opportunity,” said Ms Bennison, “for these people all to be in one place that’s not a book expo or a library ALA conference.”

Along with the visiting authors and illustrators, moderators for the panels on Saturday will be Mr Degen, Mr DiTerlizzi, Mr MacDonald, Ms Thermes, and Ross MacDonald.

Each author is donating his or her time, said Ms Bennison. Sponsoring publishers are donating books, but residents are welcome to bring a favorite title for signing.

The event is co-sponsored by the Children’s Book Council and the Barnard Foundation grant given to the C.H. Booth Library’s Books Heal Hearts fund.

Saturday Schedule Announced

As announced by C.H. Booth Library, here is the schedule for the May 18 event at Newtown Middle School.

The first program will run 90 minutes; all others are scheduled to last one hour.

Drawing with the illustrators, each to last one hour, will include: “Draw From A Live Model,” noon, with Paul Meisel; “Creating Mixed-Up Characters,” 1 pm, with Bruce Degen; “Scribble A Scene,” 2 pm, with Jennifer Thermes; and “Draw Funny,” with Ross MacDonald, at 3 pm.

Drawing activities and book signings will take place in the cafeteria.